Lakshya Sen to play at Junior Badminton Ranking at Jodhpur

Senior National championship finalist Lakshya Sen will be the main attraction when Jodhpur hosts the All India Junior badminton ranking tournament from July 9th to 15th

Jaipur: Senior National championship finalist Lakshya Sen will be the main attraction when Jodhpur hosts the All India Junior badminton ranking tournament from July 9th to 15th.

The Joint Secretary of Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Secretary of Rajasthan Badminton Association, K K Sharma told PTI that it was for the first time that Jodhpur was hosting a tournament of such magnitude.

"It is first time that this desert city which has heritage forts and other attractions would be hosting such a big tournament which will be attracting almost 1,600 players and officials," he said.

"The biggest attraction would be upcoming star Lakshya Sen who has recently produced scintillating results at international level," said Sharma.

The top-ranked Junior player in world, Lakshya Sen, who trains in the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy in Bangalore, had hogged the limelight three years ago when, as a 13-year-old, he won the Wimbledon Under-19 tournament. He has won the Under-15 and Under-17 national championships, before becoming the youngest player to reach the final of the senior nationals in February this year, where he lost Sourabh Verma, who is nine years older than him.

It capped a memorable week for the teenager, who had also become the world's top-ranked junior player days ago. Among the girls Priyanka Kumawat, the local girl would be the major attraction along with other top names in the junior category.

There would be total nine events in the boys and girls category of Boys and Girls sections.

"The tournament would have a total prize money of Rs. 3, 00,000 and M and Q list of the players would be soon declared while the draws would be announced by BAI on June 28th," Sharma said.